Punk Love
by hotcakechan
Summary: Orihime: a shy, sweet-natured girl whose passion is Jrock. Grimmjow: a popular, tough-looking guy who sings ballads. In the music industry, where their personalities bely their interests, their lives crash into each other-?
1. Chapter 1

**Punk Love**

by hotcakechan

Disclaimer: All bleach characters are by Mr Tite Kubo, but the story is mine (;

Synopsis: Orihime: a shy, sweet-natured girl whose passion is Jrock. Grimmjow: a popular, tough-looking guy who sings ballads. In the music industry, where their personalities bely their interests, their lives crash into each other-?

**/Chapter01/**

"_Orihime!_ Hime ohmygosh wake up _now_!"

Huh? Someone was shaking her shoulders roughly. Rough enough for it to hurt. Owie. The eighteen-year-old girl winced and shifted in her bed, raising a hand to spread some of her long summer-orange hair on her face so as to block the annoying sunlight filtering in through the window. She kept her eyes tightly shut, although her mind was beginning to return to reality. Sunlight? Morning?

Morning.

Wait a minute.

"CRAP!"

Orihime jolted up from the warmth of her pillow and stared in shock at her best friend Tatsuki, who was hovering over her worriedly.

"What time is it, Tatsuki-chan?"

"9.34am, oh my god hime I-"

"Ah!" Orihime screamed as she lept out of her bed clumsily, sprinting for the bathroom and slamming the door shut.

It was today. Today, the day she had anticipated so eagerly for as long as she could remember. The day of her singing audition at the entertainment company! How could she have overslept? How?

Three months ago, she had, along with her best friend Arisawa Tatsuki, sent in their demo tapes for the audition- to audition to be signed by SOUL Music Entertainment as singer-songwriters. The Genre? Japanese rock. Although her musical style had been a surprise to many at first, seeing how she was usually a shy, sweet-natured girl who seemed afraid to voice her thoughts, her display of her passion for the genre had given her the approval and encouragement of her friends, and together with the passionate Tatsuki, the two had decided to try out for the auditions together. Well, speaking of which, after their demo tapes were received by the company, Tatsuki's audition was held yesterday, and it had went well.. which was the reason she overslept. Celebrating!

Orihime splashed her face with water and finally rinsed off the facial foam, glancing breathlessly at the mirror while trying to calm her racing nerves. _Calm down, Orihime. You can do it. Don't miss this chance!_

As quickly as possible, the teen changed into her favourite hoodie (with a print of a strawberry and a leek) and jeans, combing her hair speedily before scrunching it up into a messy bun. Outside, she could hear Tatsuki scrambling around the house, possibly grabbing water bottles and stuff.

With one last attire check, Orihime stepped out of her room, smiling excitedly at her friend, who grinned back at her.

"Arigato, Tatsuki-chan. Ikou!"

xxx 10.30am xxx

Okay, screw that part about not being nervous. She was pratically _dying_ from her nerves now.

Where was she? Right. She was standing before a panel of eight judges, who were all eyeing her with either 1) surprise 2) skepticism or 3) mild interest. Not to mention that she was still panting slightly from having arrived for her audition _on the dot_ (and hence looking slightly sloppy), and the fact that she skipped breakfast and her stomach was growling.

Orihime cleared her throat nervously and fidgeted with the hem of her slightly oversized sleeve.

"So, Inoue-san, you are the composer and singer of 'Six'?"

"H-hai."

"Hm, the lyrics do seem quite deep," a tanned, purple-haird woman said contemplatively. "It's not bad."

"We have to hear you perform though, so please start whenever you're ready," said the golden-haired man beside her, smiling cheerfully. Orihime gulped.

"O- Okay."

_Ganbatte, me. Feel your lyrics and your music!_

Orihime took a deep breath, and begun.

xxx 11.15am xxx

White. The world was white. Her heart was beating too fast, and her body was moving too strangely. By itself. It didn't even feel like she moved her legs as she passed the doors.

_Did I pass?_

_Did I?_

_I did, right?_

_I-_

_-passed._

"Hime, how was it? Nee?" Tatsuki rushed up to her friend immediately as Orihime appeared from the audition doors. It was worrying to see the girl's face pale and her breath shaky, and her just being kind of spaced out.

Orihime glanced at her friend, and managed a small smile.

"YES!" The black-haired girl yelled, hugging Orihime tightly while jumping up and down. "Great job, hime!"

"-But I had 3 'reject's-"

"Why does it matter, you passed anyway!" Tatsuki grinned. "Anyway, yesterday I had 2 'reject's too, it's okay! This is great! Then we can work together from now on!"

"Yeah," Orihime smiled as she felt her heartbeat begin to return slowly to normal. This was great. However.. as from the judges' comments, she really needed a lot more confidence and some more vocal training. Only then.. only then could she make her debut and become famous. Only then could she make her brother Sora proud of his little sister. Only then could she let all those who had looked down on her as a pitiable orphan at school see her worth.

"Tatsuki-chan, let's work hard together from now on!"

"You said it. C'mon, hime, let's go have lunch!"

xxx 11.45pm xxx

_"-Those words, those emotions that I couldn't say when I met you-_

_-are still inside of me, crushing my heart._

_-Where are you? Can you come back to my side?_

_-This time, I'll love you properly, I'll give my love to you_

_-My Princess."_

"Ookay- CUT!"

"Great job, Grimmjow-sama! That's a wrap for today!"

"It was so moving!"

"My tears were nearly falling! Oh my!"

"Excellent! Nothing more!"

"Thanks," the blue-haired man smirked smugly amidst the applause as he walked off the set, tossing his fur jacket to his stylist Nel carelessly, who caught it with deadly accuracy. Yeah, they were all fawning over him again, no big deal. After having filmed the PV since 7am in the morning, he was dead tired and all he wanted to do was to eat. Seriously.

Because, look. Even if he were a celebrity, who is supposed to have great patience and all that role-model attitude and such, celebrities need to eat too, you know? Even if he was Grimmjow Jeagrejeaques, Japan's great number one, deadly gorgeous and youngest male singer to be the biggest hit over the charts these days. The top _ballad_ singer.

Ballad? You must be asking. Yeah, he got that a lot. Initially there was a lot of amusement and joke about it. Like 'huh, what's a guy like you doing singing _ballads_?' Well yeah, he had this electric blue hair, and devilishly handsome, angular face and toned body that probably made him look more like a J-pop idol that danced and did stuff like autotuned pop. Not that all autotuning is bad, but to him, although he did not in the least look like it, he wanted to write and sing songs that presented his emotions constantly. And ballads seemed (and still seem) to be the best fit. Like his third and newest single, 'My Princess'. (excuse the slightly cheesy title, but just listen to the damned song)

"Grimm!"

Oh, that's Renji and Ichigo. Renji did ballads as well, but Ichigo- the strawberry top- was different, he was actually one of those leading figures in Jrock, the lead singer in a band called 'Reaper' with two other guys called Kira and Shuuhei. God knows why Grimmjow and Ichigo came to know each other, but anyway. Yeah, Grimmjow didn't give off an aura like Renji or Ichigo, who seem comparatively more emotional and soft. But so what? When he opened his mouth, everyone shut up and became/ becomes awed by his music.

That was enough.

"C'mon, let's go grab lunch, this freaking place is killing me," the blue-haired teen muttered.

"Yeah, make it quick, I still have a photoshoot at one," Ichigo scowled.

Renji snorted in response as Grimmjow laughed.

xxx

A/N: dundundun, to be continued! please give me your thoughts on this chapter (and wait for the next one)! i'll be updating soon cos of a suddent burst of inspiration! thanks lots for reading (:

Extra A/N: about the lyrics, i wrote it from much inspiration from Kpop ballads. personally, i love writing songs too and that's why i'm writing this fic! jpop has really changed my life and here is a fic dedicated to it~ as for Orihime's song, the lyrics will be up soon, and you know why it's titled 'six' right? Like how Grimmjow's is titled 'my princess'. Because this is a grimmhime fic. haha XD Fluff starting next chapter, promised!


	2. Chapter 2

**Punk Love**

by hotcakechan

A/N: Many thanks to my kind reviewers: **WhiteCalm**, **geminigrl016**, **rin kage no kurokaze** and **XBluexFlamingoX**! ((: And thank you readers for reading! :P

**/Chapter 02/**

xxx 12.16pm xxx

"Okay. We're so _not_ going to have lunch here-" Grimmjow stood up to leave, but Renji grabbed his arm to stop him- while Ichigo shook uncontrollably under the table in a serious laughing fit. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at the two.

"..."

_"So, everyone, that was the prince of ballad's latest single, 'My Princess'. Isn't it simply a heartbreaker? My heart just melts every time I listen to it! Now, once again, we return to our guest on Bleach Hour- none other than Grimmjow-san! Hello again, Grimmjow-san."_

_"..hello."_ Present-time Grimmjow grimaced as he heard himself say awkwardly.

_"So, regarding this latest release- many listeners have posted speculations on the net.. and some of the most common curiosities we have received is your inspiration for this song. Would you like to tell us a bit more about the song, Grimmjow?"_

_"Uh.. it's about romance?"_

This time Renji snorted into his spaghetti as he tried to keep a straight face.

_"Well, haha.. okay. How about telling us more about this 'my princess'? Is she someone we know?"_

_"No, she isn'-"_

_"-Many listeners and fans are guessing that it's Halibel-san! Well, you know, because of the picture of you two being together at Harajuku that was recently unveiled on the net. Are you sure it's not for her? Really?"_

_"No. She's just a fr-"_

_"-REALLY? But it seems as though there are many references to her in the lyrics, for instance the part about the princess, especially with Halibel-san being the princess of Jpop and-"_

_"I said it ISN'T her. Can't you freakin' get over it?"_

"HAHAHAHA!" Ichigo burst into a laughing mess, unable to contain himself anymore.

"Shhh! We'll get noticed!" Renji whispered, clapping his hand hurriedly over Ichigo's mouth as heads turned to look at the noisy teens and whispers and fingers started to be directed at them.

"Yeah," Grimmjow stood up abruptly, glaring at his friends. "Thanks a lot, Ichi. My wish for the new year is to get stampeded by fangirls on my rare day out for lunch.."

"Don't worry, no one will.. hah.. recognize you with your sunglasses and.. heh.. hoodie.."

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at the strawberry-head.

"Grimm- even though you've already debuted for so long, you're still the best at interviews, man," Renji chirped as Ichigo nodded furiously in agreement. The teal-haired idol sighed.

_What's with the two of them.._

"Toilet." Grimmjow grunted as he left the table. What he said in the interview wasn't even supposed to be the point! Did nobody notice how the hell he was supposed to be live on air now when he's actually having his lunch in a pasta shop? Credit all that stupid pre-recorded shit.

xxx xxx

"Hahaha, this guy is damn hilarious!" Tatsuki laughed as she flopped herself down on Orihime's bed, reading her magazine upside down. Orihime looked up from her guitar practicing.

"Hm?"

"Weren't you listening? This Grimmjow.. the top J-ballad idol.. gosh I just love his attitude! The radio host totally got her ass kicked.."

Orihime grinned sheepishly at her chuckling friend as the interview on the radio continued to play. She had to admit she wasn't really listening..

"I wish there were more red bean paste."

"Huh? Again? We just ate."

"I know. But still."

"Hm."

"Oh right, I forgot! What time are we supposed to report at the company tomorrow?"

"Oh yeah!" Tatsuki sat up, hugging a pillow. "I think it's 10am. But I can't go with you, gomen! I need to go get my headphones back from that idiot Keigo in the morning first.."

"Mm, it's okay."

"Nee, Hime.."

Orihime looked up at her best friend curiously at her suddenly hushed tone. "Yeah?"

"What if we see _Reaper_ at SOUL tomorrow?"

"Wha-" The orange-haired girl felt her cheeks begin to heat up as Tatsuki grinned at her knowingly.

"What if we see _Kurosaki Ichigo_?"

"Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime yelled as she put down her guitar. "If I see him.. if I see him i'll-"

"I'll?"

-silence-

"..Agh! I don't know! Why should I care! I don't even like him!"

"Yeah, and you don't like red bean paste," Tatsuki rolled her eyes.

Orihime blushed several shades darker.

"..It's just- their music.." The girl mumbled as she recalled Reaper's song 'Zangetsu'. "The lyrics, Kurosaki-kun's voice.. they're all so beautiful.."

Tatsuki smiled. "Yeah. I wish I get to see _Quincy_ too."

"Oh!" Orihime sat up. "The band with Ishida-kun and Sado-kun and Yumichika-kun and Ikkaku-san?"

"Yeah."

"I wonder when we'll get to be like them," Orihime sighed as she fingered around her guitar. "We will right, Tatsuki-chan? Become so amazing?"

"Yeah, definitely." The black-haired girl smiled. Someday, surely, their dreams will come true.

xxx xxx

A/N: T^T sorry! i know i promised grimmhime fluff in this chapter but i didn't get to it yet! ): i'm still sorting out my ideas (and deciding upon the best ones), so I just decided to update first since i was taking really long!

BUT IT WILL COME IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. DEFINITELY. although orihime likes ichigo now and grimmjow doesn't even know who she is (; there will also be some sense of orihime's prowess coming! yay ^ ^ keep reading! (:


	3. Chapter 3

**Punk Love**

by hotcakechan

A/N: Dedicated to my dear chapter 2 reviewers: **XBluexFlamingoX**, **Gun d'ange**, **geminigrl016**, **Airi The SoGa** (:

**/Chapter 03/**

_I never knew, I never knew_

_How I decided to give my heart to you_

_It should have been someone else_

_It should have been something else_

_But the ending of my fairytale changed_

_It's you whom I want to protect now_

_It's you whom I will protect now_

_As we pass each other again tomorrow,_

_I-_

"BRR.."

Clumsily, Orihime pulled out her earphones from both ears and fumbled inside her bag for her mobile.

"-Oh, Tatsuki-chan? Hello! ... ... .. Uh I'm on the bus now ... .. Yeah, I'm half an hour early ... ... ... .. No, it's okay, take your time! ... ... Yup .. ... ... Yup ... .. Okay. See ya!"

The 18-year-old lowered her phone and checked the time again. Okay great. It was (still) only 9.30am, but she was already nearing SOUL in less than a minute. The meeting today was scheduled to start only at 10, but well, for some reason she was more than early.

Orihime sighed as she stared out of the window at the people walking up and down the streets. On the bright side, the weather seemed pretty nice today- the sun was out, but the air was still cold. Orihime smiled to herself. Days like this were days she wished she could just capture with a pen and paper.

"Next Station, SOUL Entertainment Building. SOUL Entertainment Building."

Quickly grabbing her stuff from her seat, the auburn-haired girl got up from her seat and exited the bus. With "Protector" still stuck in her head. Or rather, Kurosaki-kun's voice.

_-As we pass each other again tomorrow,_

_I will look only at you_

_I will love only you_

_I will become your protector,_

_So please don't turn away from me._

Orihime entered the doors of SOUL, and felt a thoroughly pleasant rush of cool air-conditioning welcome her. Hooray for nice cold air!

_Okay now.. where should I wait?_

And she spotted a lounge near the entrance. Okay.. she could spend the next 20 minutes or so there listening to music and people-watching, or thinking up of a new song. Rummaging for her music player and phone from her bag, Orihime quickly headed towards the empty sofas.

That was, until she walked into a wall.

A wall?

Why on earth was there a wall in the middle of the lobby?

Ouch..

"Oh my, Grimmjow-sama! Are you hurt?"

Her head was spinning, but she could hear worried voices and a flurry of footsteps rushing towards somewhere near her.

"Grimmjow-sama, are you okay?"

"Grimmjow-sama!"

Huh?

"Are you alright? Do you need me to postpone the live show?"

"Do you need to see a doctor?"

Orihime stared at what looked like a shiny marble surface. Oh. She was on the floor? Slowly, the teen got up and looked around, rubbing her bruised head. A few metres away from her, a crowd of people were having some kind of a commotion..

..they seemed to be hovering around a man.. a man with sunglasses and electric blue hair. Electric blue hair! And with a tanned, defined face and well-built body.

Wait a minute.

Did she just walk into-

Did she just-

-walk into-

Wow. He looks even cooler than on TV!

"Hontou ni gomenasai desu!" Orihime bowed formally. Nobody seemed to hear her though. Everyone was still busy buzzing around the blue-haired ballad celebrity.

"Um.. Gomenasai!" Orihime apologized again, a little more loudly this time, and the voices seemed to fade away slowly. When she looked up, though, her heart nearly stopped.

_The_ Grimmjow Jeagrejeaques was right before her, less than a ruler's length away, with his icy cerulean eyes cutting into her warm amber ones. Even though she wasn't a fan of his.. even then, it was still rather intimidating.

Silence.

More silence.

And then he smirked.

At her.

_Alright, she couldn't be blushing. No!_

_Stop blushing stop blushing stop blushing!_

_Stop blushing stop blushing stop blushing stop blushing!_

"Here," went his deep, husky voice. _Here?_ Suddenly, Orihime spotted her own mp3 player sailing smoothly towards her, and she almost missed catching it. Almost. The girl's eyes widened in confusion. _How come-_

Grimmjow moved closer, and now he was less than a ruler's length away. Where his face was right beside her ear. Orihime felt like her face wasn't even her face anymore; she could literally feel her heart pounding furiously with the sole purpose of sending all the blood to her head or something.

He was this close.

And then he, right beside her, like a wind blown past her without a care, here's what he said:

"Put in some of my songs next time, too, kay?"

_Oh. _

_My. _

_Gosh._

xxx 9.45 am xxx

Grimmjow was grinning madly to himself.

Because he was happy? No. Because he was mad? Not really. Okay, fine. It's a bit of both. And what kind of feeling is that, may you ask?

Frightening.

He felt insane now. A feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time, he must add. And so, in this small space of a van, his aura had left him the whole few back rows empty, with his manager, Nel and several other workers all cramped together in the front. Haha.

And with the luxury of space, he whipped out his handphone from his pants pocket flashily and began to type a message.

_Yo ichi. Just ran into a girl with orange hair like you with only reaper songs in her player._

A few seconds later:

_Serious? :O_

Grimmjow frowned.

_Yes, go jump for joy._

One minute later:

_Whatever Grimm. Where are you now anw? I'm on my way to SOUL.._

Grimmjow:

_I just left there to do some shit _

Ichigo:

_K _

Grimmjow snapped his phone shut loudly, and ran his fingers through his hair roughly.

_Ok. Chill._

_Chill, Grimmjow. _

_It's not like you sing for popularity or anything._

_Why do you even let someone you don't know affect you so much?_

_Relax._

_-BUT I CAN'T FRIGGIN' BELIEVE IT!_

The teal-haired celebrity cursed loudly and felt the others in front shudder. Yeah. He was in an EXTREMELY bad mood. He was no longer grinning. Sorry for the un-idol-like behaviour, but some emotions just can't be controlled, like this one, for example.

How could an average young girl like that orange chick just now have NONE of his songs? NONE?

Not even _one_?

Okay. Maybe she just likes rock, judging from all that Reaper business. But still? Even a ballad singer like him has songs of other genres. LIKE ROCK, for instance.

And he had even thought she was kinda cute, blushing at rate that was just.. wow.

And that fish-shaped bag that reminded him how he wanted taiyaki for lunch.

Until he saw that damned music player.

Damn it.

xxx xxx

A/N: I'm so tired! Need to sleep! Orihime's music life starting next chapter! :D Haha grimm's steel abs :P


	4. Chapter 4

**Punk Love**

by hotcakechan

A/N: For my chapter 3 reviewers: **HyperStar**, **Wau**, **Santoryuu apprentice**, **XBluexFlamingoX**, **Airi The SoGa**, **little miss piplup**, **geminigrl016**, **DaniHime86** ^ ^ Thank you for your kind and encouraging comments that keep up my motivation to write! ((:

**/Chapter 04/**

"Wait a minute. What do you mean, _no guitarist_?"

"Uh.. Because the usual band's guitarist Matsumoto-san just called in sick five minutes ago.."

_Yeah, right! She probably went out with Gin on his day off._

".. well, okay, whatever. Hanataro, so where can we get someone to replace Rangiku? You know that Grimmjow's live show starts at 6pm, and for today's show the guitarist's part is especially important.."

"A- About that, Shihouin-senpai, I've asked around but nobody seems to be free.. the other guitarists from our other accompaniment bands are needed today by Renji-kun in Osaka and the others in Asakusa, Haneda, Sapporo.."

Yoruichi rubbed her temples, feeling a huge headache coming.

"..Alright, I get it. I'll see what I can do. Call you again later, Hanataro."

Sighing, the coordinator ended the call and aimed a kick to the wall. _That damned Matsumoto is totally going to get it when she comes back.._

"My my, why the gloomy atmosphere?"

Yoruichi looked up._ Ah. Old man Kisuke._

"Ran's done it again," she explained as she crossed her arms, watching the golden-haired man stroll leisurely down the corridor with his usual fan in hand. "What, should we just have no concerts when it's Gin's off-day or something?"

Urahara grinned.

"Well.. I happen to be on my way to see those new rocker girls to discuss their pre-debut activities. Why don't we try one of them out? They seemed to be pretty decent guitarists at the audition.."

"..That's a possible idea, but we need someone who can learn the parts quickly," Yoruichi mused. "Especially today, with, you know, the acoustic guitar solo plus singing only piece.."

"Actually, I have someone in mind," Urahara grinned as he hid his face behind the fan. "Oho!"

The purple-haired manager raised both eyebrows. "Eh? Really now, that's pretty rare of you to nominate someone, Kisuke." The man just nodded cheerily in agreement.

"So. Who is it?"

"Curious now, aren't we?" The middle-aged man chuckled as he tossed his fan up in the air and did the Don Kanonji dance.

Yoroichi shot him the flattest i-am-in-no-mood-for-your-nonsense-kisuke look.

"Okay fine-" Urahara cleared his throat. "I believe there's one of them called Inoue Orihime-san..."

xxx 1.30 pm xxx

And that was how Orihime found herself packed into a tiny van after lunch, after the meeting, with a score _and_ an electric guitar _and_ an acoustic guitar with her.

Okay. That's quite a lot to handle.

Let's rewind time a little-?

So she had apparently been standing in a daze after the close contact with the blue-haired singer, and after that, was half-dragged upstairs to the scheduled meeting by Tatsuki. Then, during the meeting (in which she attended in her still-shocked state), she was introduced to her future bandmates: Tatsuki, along with three other girls named Rukia, Hiyori and Nemu who all seemed really nice. They were to form a five-member, all-singing and all-instrumentalist girl band, where they would self-compose and perform their own songs, and were set to debut a month from now, with the band name yet to be decided.

Right. That's what happened. And now-

"It'll take about an hour to get to Shibuya from here, so you might want to start practicing first," said the kindly manager Ukitake-san. "I'll be driving us there, along with Isane-san who will be taking care of your needs."

-she was heading to a live concert as a substitute guitarist. After the meeting, she had been singled out and asked to do the company a favour, for which she would, of course, be paid, and moreover, would be doing her good by giving her some exposure to public performance.

"Okay, arigatou, Ukitake-san," Orihime chirped politely. The white-haired man smiled and went to the driver's seat, starting the engine of the vehicle.

Everything was cool, right?

It was great. She got to debut in a month's time, and now she had the chance to perform together with one of the nation's youngest, most revered male stars, the object of desire of the hearts of many girls her age.

So, what was the problem?

What?

Well, make a guess.

When she had stepped out of her apartment this morning, Orihime had completely _no idea_ how long of a day this was going to be. She had only imagined that the day's highlight would be the meeting that would last for around two and a half hours, where she would get some sense of the direction of her musical career, which would then be followed by her heading home for lunch, before some self-training in singing or guitar, and then just chilling out or the like. But this was clearly not what was in store for her today.

Everything has changed.. because of an idol named Grimmjow Jeagrejeaques_ whom she crashed into this morning._

Orihime sighed and turned her attention back to the things that filled the backseat. Guitar, guitar, and a stack of manuscripts and lyrics. Okay, time to start practicing.

Picking up the acoustic guitar first, Orihime scanned for the manuscript of the song before beginning to strum the chords slowly.

Okay, this wasn't too hard..

..except for the fact that Grimmjow's leering face just popped into her head.

_Why does this this song just scream Grimmjow? Oh well, fine, it's his song, but I can't concentrate like this! Oh wait.. what if I blush again later?_ Unknown to the driving Ukitake and the reading Isane, the auburn-haired girl was falling into a state of panic in the backseat.

_I can't blush later when he looks at me.. I need a way to NOT blush!_

_A way to not blush.._

_..._

_..._

And then Orihime got a brainwave.

"-Isane-san, I'm sorry but- do you have any makeup that I could borrow?"

xxx 2.41 pm xxx

He was walking around on the stage, randomly poking at some random wires lying around when he heard someone shout.

"They're here!"

Huh?

Oh, right. Must be Ukitake and the replacement guitarist.

Ok. Whatever. He didn't really care if Matsumoto was here or not anyway.. although he did wonder what she saw in that fox-face Gin. It had been a long day for him already- after the stupid music player incident in the morning that gave rise to his foul mood, he had arrived at the site at around 11am, where he went through a round of sound checks and a bunch of random walking around shit, before a generous lunch time till 2pm. Well.. let's just say that the long lunch break that did not offer taiyaki as food kinda lifted his spirits a little.

"Grimmjow-san!"

Ah, that voice-

The teal-haired idol spun around in recognition.

"Hey, Ukitak-"

Huh? That girl beside him..

Grimmjow felt his mouth go dry as he recognized her facial features and her fish-shaped bag.

_It's that girl from this morning.. why the hell does she look so pale?_

xxx xxx

A/N: yay done for this chapter! ^ ^ grimm and hime will be performing together next, plus an unknown development! please look forward to it, and thanks so much for reading! (:


	5. Chapter 5

**Punk Love**

by hotcakechan

A/N: A big THANK YOU to my dear reviewers: **Airi The SoGa**, **blue87**, **Santoryuu apprentice**, **geminigrl016**, **Wau**, **XBluexFlamingoX**, **HyperStar** ((:

**/Chapter 05/**

_It's that girl from this morning.. why the hell does she look so pale?_

No. That shouldn't even be the question. First of all-

_-WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE DOING HERE?_

"Ah, Grimmjow-kun," Ukitake said, beaming and gesturing to the girl beside him. "This is Inoue-san. She's a newly recruited trainee singer in the company, but she'll be the replacement guitarist for Matsumoto-san today."

Grimmjow felt his eyes widen. _Trainee singer? Replacement guitarist?_

"Ah-" The orange-haired girl cleared her throat nervously, her amber eyes accidentally meeting his and then quickly looking away. "I- Inoue Orihime desu," she introduced awkwardly. Grimmjow snorted.

_Well, good news. The girl wasn't even blushing anymore. (But he would die before he admitted that this observation severely wounded his manly/idol pride.)_

_And 'Orihime'? As in the name Orihime from the legend of Tanabata?_

Woah, seriously. Even for a slightly much-more-than-average guy like him, a girl like her was kinda overwhelming. Everything about her, basically, was just so _bizarre_- it made him uneasy and gave rise to a primal urge in his gut to smash his fist into a nearby wall.

"Yeah, we've met before," Grimmjow muttered shortly, shifting his gaze back to a surprised Ukitake.

"Really? When?"

"In the mor-"

_"Grimmjow-sama! Guitarist-san! Please get ready for a full run-through of the first item on stage!"_ shouted a backstage crew. The teal-haired idol raised an eyebrow, while Orihime began to feel a serious case of stomachache coming on.

"..Gotta go, Ukitake-san. Talk later."

"Sure. All the best. All the best to you too, Inoue-san!"

"..Arigatou, Ukitake-san! See you later!"

Grimmjow turned away and headed up the stage, cursing to himself. Sheesh, this whole thing was going to be such a bother. This entire _Orihime_ business, that is. He didn't know why either, but seeing that girl just made him feel.. ..okay great, now he couldn't even find a suitable adjective to describe his feelings. The hell? But you get the point.

Who did she think she was, just coming into his life like that and messing everything up? In the morning, and even now? What had he done to deserve this?

Grimmjow sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Things were getting so maddening. Too maddening for his taste.

_Screw it. Screw everything._

xxx xxx

Her heart was, for the second time today, beating at an insanely inhuman pace- the first time being when she first met Grimmjow, and the second- well, the second being the second time she met Grimmjow.

Okay great. Just what was wrong with her?

Like now, as she sat less than a metre away from him on the stage, with the dazzling lights and all shining upon them, and with their bodies angled slightly towards each other from the stools they sat on that she couldn't even look at somewhere else that did not include Grimmjow in her vision..

"Okay, please begin whenever you are ready!"

Right. That's the cue to start.

_He's a celebrity, Orihime. That's why you're acting all nervous and fidgety around him._

_He isn't even your celebrity crush, a.k.a. Kurosaki Ichigo._

_And to top it off, he acts like.._

_..he hates your guts._

xxx xxx

She started strumming the guitar. With one leg crossed over the other, her back slightly bent, with a few strands of her long orange hair falling loosely in front of her face, and with her eyes filled with a beautiful, intense concentration.

Grimmjow mentally kicked himself.

One bar.. two bars.. three... four.

_Your turn to blow the stage, dude._

The teal-haired idol grabbed the mike before him and brought it close to his lips.

_"Tipping, it's tipping,_

_You're tipping my heart like an hourglass_

_All of me is turned upside down,_

_From the day I met you."_

_Haha,_ Grimmjow thought to himself bitterly. _So much for apt lyrics._

_"I fell down because_

_You tripped me without a word_

_But I can only be this good to you_

_So if you don't mind-"_

_"-Look at me too, instead of his eyes,_

_Look into mine, get lost in mine_

_Lose yourself, lose everything,_

_Because from the day I met you,_

_I've already done the same-"_

_"-Why don't you understand?_

_I need someone like you_

_I need a girl like you_

_My heart that has followed yours blindly_

_My heart that has loved yours blindly_

_Ever since the day I met you."_

xxx xxx

A/N: SORRY! for the very short update and crappy ending! T_T I am busy with various things! T_T More coming next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

**Punk Love**

by hotcakechan

A/N: Once again, lots of love and thanks to my reviewers: **Airi The SoGa**, **Disciple Of The Dragon Star**, **XBluexFlamingoX**, **geminigrl016** ((: Thanks for being so sweet and encouraging! To **Disciple of the Dragon Star**: yup i wrote the lyrics, glad you liked it! ^ ^

**/Chapter 06/**

The air-conditioner must be leaking, because Orihime could feel something wet on her face.

Another drop of water rolled down her left cheek.

Huh?

Wait. It couldn't be.. it couldn't possibly be that..

No way. She couldn't believe it.

She was crying.

She had never cried from a song before. Although Reaper's songs had certainly made her feel, countless of times, an overwhelming charge of emotions that she immediately took to expressing via her pen and her guitar, this song.. she didn't know if it was because of the tune, the lyrics, his voice or just because it was _Grimmjow_ singing it, but the song gave her a completely different feeling.

It sounded so lonely.

And there was a pain, a pain she felt from it that she wanted so badly to heal.. a harsh throbbing in her heart that she had never felt before.

Orihime felt her face begin to heat up in embarassment as she remembered that she was still on the stage. _Crap, I can't let anyone realise that I'm crying!_

Subtly, she stole a glance at the teal-haired singer sitting across her, checking if he noticed her reaction.

Which was the exact moment he decided to turn his head to look at her.

_NO!_

xxx xxx

Grimmjow felt his own teal-blue eyes widen in surprise.

A pair of glistening amber orbs were staring at him.. well, with a comparable amount of shock.

He was so thrown off-guard that he nearly missed singing the final chorus. But being a professional, he only _nearly_ did so, and finished the performance cleanly.

And now, amidst the buzz of the prepartion of the second item, he found himself heading towards Orihime, who was sitting alone in a corner off-stage, practicing for the next item on an electric guitar.

xxx xxx

_Well, she didn't really curse but.._

_Shit._

_I should never have glanced up at him!_

Sighing, Orihime returned to plucking and strumming the steely strings of the guitar, feeling the soothing rhythm of the next ballad, 'Pantera'. Somehow.. she felt really tired.

_Today must be one of the longest days of my life.. I wonder when I'll be able to go home and forget about all of this._

_All of this mess._

Suddenly, she noticed a pair of feet standing before her.

Uh-oh. Because.. it looked like a pair of celebrity feet.

Orihime looked up, and could only gape speechlessly at the blue-haired idol towering over her. Grimmjow, who was wearing an unreadable expression, cleared his throat to indicate his presence.

"Are you o-"

Suddenly everything went black.

_"Ahh!"_

_"What the hell? Jinta-kun, what happened?"_

_"Why the hell are you asking me?"_

_"I think somebody tripped over a wire and it disconnected.."_

_"Ururu, where are you?"_

_"Calm down, everyone! Don't panic!"_

_"You don't sound too convincing yourself, Ukitake-san.."_

_"Just fix the damn thing quick or the rehearsal will be delayed.."_

_"Quick, it's scary!"_

"Hey.. Orihime, right?"

Orihime looked up, but realized that Grimmjow had bent down and was now face-to-face with her. _It was happening again.. her heart, beating out of control._

"Y- Yeah."

Thank god for the blackout.. she was pretty sure that even two layers of makeup wouldn't cover her blush now. And he had moved closer to her, if any closer were possible. Orihime could literally _hear_ her heart beating now.. and she was pretty sure that if the male celebrity came just half a centimetre closer, he would be able to hear it too.

There was a moment of silence, and then-

"-Sorry for making you cry earlier."

_Wha-_

Orihime found herself sitting up.

"No, it wasn't your fault, Grimmjow-san.. the song was just so good that I-"

"-couldn't-"

His hands. His large, warm hands were on the sides of her face, tucking strands of stray hair behind her ears. Even in this darkness, she could make out the piercing blue that were burning straight into her.

It was getting hard to breathe, and her face probably just caught an explosive blush.

Grimmjow placed something on her head.

They were.. headphones?

"Just stay still," commanded his deep, husky voice.

Orihime couldn't move an inch.

Moments later, she could hear something start up.

_I never knew, I never knew_

_How I decided to give my heart to you_

_It should have been someone else_

_It should have been something else_

_But the ending of my fairytale changed.._

"This is.. 'Protector'.." Orihime found herself whispering in realization, and glanced up at Grimmjow.

_The ballad idol had wanted to (unnecessarily) cheer her up with a Reaper's song?_

xxx xxx

A/N: another super short chap! hopefully this has been more exciting :P please look forward to the next update! my writing stamina is decreasing T_T but i will make up for it with a super long chap next! ! ! thanks lots always! (:


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